In Bloom said:
Why is it that so many left-wingers and anarchists get so excited over the IRA? I mean, they're a bunch of nationalist twats who went round bombing totally innocent people, what's so wonderful about that?
And before anybody starts, the Unionists and the British army are no better, but they don't seem to enjoy the same sort of hero-worship that the IRA do on here.
further to previous replies...
you seem to be forgetting that for many years anarchists and other anti-fascists defended republican marches (certainly in london) from attack from fascists. this has led to a certain influence of republican ideas in some anarchist circles, tho' it is by no means pervasive. in class war there's been a tradition of supporting the ira because of their resistance to unionist and british oppression, tho not all members support them - some take your attitude to them. if you look at issues of cw from the 1980s, for instance, there's a strong pro-ira line. the ira is, too, a working class organisation (tho' since the ceasefires there have been some questions raised about the sort of person they've been attracting...).
there's also been the point that a defeat for the british state in the six counties could well lead to serious trouble here on the 'mainland' - something recognised by a tory mp some years ago when he said "if we lose in belfast, we may have to fight in brixton and birmingham".
yeh, the ira's a broad church, containing people with a wide variety of political opinions, from some who are downright reactionary to revolutionary socialists. if you don't wish to support their aims, fair enough. but certainly in my case i support the republican movement not least because of my past contact with many republicans in a wide variety of campaigns. they've turned out not just on large demos, but on smaller things, too, which many so-called anarchists have ignored, such as prisoners' justice days in the 1990s. this contact, as well my own reading on the subject, persuaded me that they were right to carry out their armed struggle. and it's not like they didn't try other tactics before they moved to the 1969 - 1994/6 armed campaign...
republicans may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they've taken everything the british state could throw at them and they're still there. there's a lot people on the left and in the anarchist movement could learn about struggle from them, a lot that may become increasingly relevant as repressive laws the likes of which have only been previously seen in the six counties begin to be imposed here.
